"Obviously, prior political experience is not a major contributing factor," Alvarado wrote. "Bringing out the vote is not a major contributing factor. Being well-qualified..well, it’s subjective. Following KERA’s own developed policy is also not a major factor in inclusion for this debate."

In December, Debra Medina and her supporters launched a campaign to get her invited to KERA's Republican debate. Though the station had told her they would decide in January whether they would invite her to appear alongside Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Medina insisted she had already been excluded and that the station was doing so on Perry's order. KERA ultimately invited Medina to appear at the debate.

The Democratic debate will air at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 on KERA TV and FM radio, on TXA 21 and at www.texasdebates.org. Star-Telegram Austin bureau chief Dave Montgomery will be among those on the panel who will question the candidates.

January 29, 2010

Claim: Perry and Hutchison sparred for the second time on live television over how much gas tax money Texas gets back from the federal government.

Way back in early January, Perry said in a debate on a stage in Denton that Texas gets 70 cents back for every dollar sent to Washington. Hutchison accused Perry of lying and said the state gets back 92 cents of every dollar.

This time around, Perry repeated his complaint that Texas isn't getting it's fair share of the gas tax money.

Hutchison then said Texas actually got 100 percent of its gas tax money back in 2008, an impressive 8 percent bump from a couple of weeks ago.

True or false? True...technically.

After the first debate, we learned from Texas Department of Transportation spokesman Chris Lippincott that a federal formula requires Texas to get back 92 cents of every gas-tax dollar that goes for highway funding. But the state receives a smaller cut of gas-tax funds spent on other kinds of transportation.

All told, Texas gets back 82.5 cents of every gas-tax dollar, Lippincott said.

After tonight's debate, Hutchison's camp pointed us to this page on the Federal Highway Administration's web site. It shows Texas actually got 107 percent back in gas tax money in the 2008 fiscal year compared to how much the state contributed to the fund.

We called Lippincott very confused.

He explained that there's not much point in looking at just one year of money flowing in and out of the federal highway trust fund.

"There’s a lag between the money that you send in as the state collecting the fuel tax and the money that you get back," he said. "It's apples to oranges."

Claim: Medina accused the governor of spending taxpayer money like a liberal. She pointed out that expenditures from the governor’s office’s spending have increased 13.5 percent, according to
the latest comptroller’s report.

True or false? True. A newsletter for Dec./Jan. from the
Comptroller’s office shows that the expenditures from the state’s executive
branch rose 13.5 percent from the start of the fiscal year compared to the
previous year.

Claim: During an exchange over faltering contracts with the Texas Enterprise Fund, Perry said, “Just last week, we amended those contracts.”

Background: In 2003, the legislature created the Texas Enterprise Fund, a pot of money under Perry’s discretion to attract new industry and job to the state.

True or false? False. The Governor’s Office announced on Tuesday that Enterprise Fund contracts with 11 companies were amended. The release did not specify when the projects were amended. A report from Texans for Public Justice released the next day said that the governor’s office had been amending contracts over a period of at least two years as multiple companies were not able to meet the job targets they originally promised.

Claim: Perry and Hutchison argued over an executive order he issued involving a vaccine for the human papillomavirus. Hutchison called the order a “mandate.” Perry said, “When you can say 'no', something’s not mandatory.”

Background: In Feb. 2007, Perry ordered state health officials to enforce a rule requiring girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated for HPV starting in the 2008-09 school year. The state legislature quickly passed a bill blocking Perry’s order which the governor grudgingly allowed to become law.

Who’s right? Perry, technically.

The executive order would have allowed parents who have religious or conscientious objections to opt their daughters out of the requirement. Technically, that is not a mandate.

However, during the time the order was being debated, it was frequently referred to as “a mandate."

DALLAS -- Shortly before the second Republican gubernatorial debate kicks off, Tea Party activist Debra Medina -- who will share the stage with U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry -- put out this release regarding the governor's performance.

"According to Governor Rick Perry, under his leadership, Texas is the strongest state in the nation, but the devil is in the details.

In a recent interview at the Blogger’s Summit, Governor Perry said that ending the property tax in Texas was a very intriguing and positive idea. However, he fell short of embracing the end of property tax or any significant change in management of the state’s current fiscal crisis, maintaining that Texas is on the right path. “Well, I’m saying “bullshit” and here’s why,” Medina said:

Not only have we seen loss of jobs in the private sector, the most recent State Comptroller’s Fiscal Notes shows total state tax collections have fallen by over 20%, while funds from the federal government to the state government have risen nearly 34% so far this year over last year, to plug the huge hole in Governor Perry’s state budget.

Furthermore, while Texas families and businesses have been tightening their belts during that same year, and while Governor Perry is boasting about our solid economic footing, he has spent nearly $1.7 Billion in his own department[i], 13.5% more this year than last!

“A double-digit spending increase is not sound management. It feels like state theft, pure and simple. He is taking food from the mouths of Texans,” says Debra Medina. “While the Governor is living high-off-the-hog, Texas families are struggling to feed their children and pay their bills.”